The Avatar franchise only includes two released movies as of the writing of this article, but it is still the Walt Disney Company’s most important property for the foreseeable future. The first epic science fiction film, directed and written by James Cameron, premiered in 2009, breaking numerous records and receiving widespread positive reviews. During its theatrical run, Avatar became the highest-grossing movie of all time (a position it held for almost ten years before Avengers: Endgame overtook it, but Avatar later reclaimed its title with re-releases in 2021). The sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, premiered in 2022 and experienced similar success to its predecessor, becoming the third-highest-grossing film ever.
Back in 2009, Disney did not own the rights to Avatar, which was distributed by 20th Century Fox. However, when Disney bought 21st Century Fox, it acquired all its key assets, including 20th Century Fox film and television studios and its properties. So, as of March 2019, Disney owns the Avatar franchise, which will likely pay off for the company in the long run. While most of Disney’s other (previously wildly successful) franchises are heading in a downward trend, the world of Pandora is only getting stronger.
Avatar: The Way Of Water’s Box Office Performance Proved How Valuable The Franchise Really Is
When Disney purchased Fox in 2019, two of the biggest takeaways were that the company now holds the rights to the X-Men (meaning they can join the Marvel Cinematic Universe) and the Avatar film series. Many claimed that acquiring Avatar was a massive win for Disney, but at the time, only the first movie had been released, which was, of course, the highest-grossing film ever, but it was still only one entity. It had been ten years since Avatar premiered, and some doubted that the sequels could achieve the same success as the first movie because of the long period between them. However, Avatar: The Way of Water proved the skeptics wrong.
Thirteen years following the release of Avatar, the second film premiered, and audiences came out in droves to see it in theaters. Although it had been many years since the first installment debuted and the COVID-19 pandemic had given people less incentive to go to the cinema, Avatar: The Way of Water received positive reviews and was an impressive triumph at the box office. It earned $2.32 billion, making it the third-highest-grossing movie of all time. The sequel’s performance at the box office certified the Avatar franchise’s rightful place as Disney’s most important asset and one that it should heavily focus on going forward.
Avatar’s Planned Timeline Teases A New Main Character Replacing Jake Sully In Avatar 4
Three more Avatar sequels following the release of Avatar: The Way of Water are in the works, and Sam Worthington’s Jake might not be in all of them.
Disney’s Other Core Franchises Are Struggling
Although the Avatar film series’ success can speak for itself when discussing Disney’s most important franchise, it is also vital to consider the company’s struggling properties. Disney owns Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm, meaning it holds the rights to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Star Wars franchise. Once upon a time, just a few years ago, the MCU and Star Wars were the biggest media collections in the United States. However, following the premieres of Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, both franchises have struggled to maintain their success.
One could blame COVID-19 for the MCU and Star Wars‘ failures, but Avatar: The Way of Water proved that film series can succeed in the 2020s. Marvel has continuously fallen short of what many expected following the Infinity Saga’s end. Out of the ten movies that Marvel has released following Spider-Man: Far From Home, only one surpassed $1 billion at the box office — Spider-Man: No Way Home (and it isn’t hard to see why it was a triumph). A handful of others (like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) have gotten close. Still, overall, the Multiverse Saga has been a disappointment.
Meanwhile, the future of Star Wars films is a question mark. Disney claims three movies are in development, including a New Jedi Order film, a Dawn of the Jedi story, and a New Republic project. Additionally, numerous other movies have been rumored in recent years. However, not much is known about these projects and what the Star Wars franchise (on the big screen) will look like following The Rise of Skywalker. Thankfully, Disney has the Avatar film series to fall back on.
Unlike Star Wars, Avatar Has Future Movies Already Far Through Development
Whereas the Star Wars franchise seemingly has no upcoming movies that have made a lot of progress in production, the Avatar film series includes many sequels that are either done, being filmed, or in the pre-production process. Star Wars has plenty of planned future movies, but they aren’t nearly as developed as Avatar‘s upcoming film slate. As for the MCU, Marvel has numerous projects in development, but they are likely being reworked as the studio deals with the firing of Jonathan Majors and the need to revisit their plans for the Multiverse Saga, given its past failures. So, Avatar is evidently Disney’s most reliable (and important) franchise.
Avatar 3 is finished with principal photography and is currently in the stages of post-production as Disney prepares for a 2025 release date. Some Avatar 4 scenes were filmed during the production of the third film, and the cast and crew are in the midst of capturing more sequences from the fourth installment’s script. Lastly, Avatar 5 is in the pre-production process. James Cameron seemingly runs a tight ship, meaning that Disney can depend on his film series to succeed, while its other franchises are more unreliable as of late.
Avatar 3 Needs To Continue The Way Of Water’s Darkest Neytiri Story
Avatar 3 has the opportunity to continue Neytiri’s best franchise storyline, with her Spider relationship getting pretty dark in The Way of Water.
Avatar Has Become The Key To Disney’s Future Growth
Unfortunately, the Walt Disney Company can no longer rely on the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars to turn a profit for the company. So, the Avatar film series has to become Disney’s crown jewel. 20th Century Studios has only released two movies, but both hold spots in the top three of the highest-grossing films of all time, so it is safe to assume that the future sequels will also have big showings at the box office. The first and second installments proved that Avatar is a bankable franchise, and it has become the key to Disney’s growth as the company looks to the future and tries to recover from its recent failures.
